The Mind of Christ

Psalm 66:19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

This Psalm, according to the Greek translation of the Bible,  was to be read on Easter because it is a praise to God for the regeneration of the world through the Gentiles. I think you will see throughout the Psalm the same outline Jesus gives us in the Lord’s prayer. You know how Baptists love their acronyms and this Psalm follows the acronym ACTS…A-doration, C-onfession, T-hanksgiving, and S-upplication.

The first 4 verses tell us to “shout for Joy, sing the glory of his name (vs1).”  It continues to declare how awesome is God, His power, and how all of creation praises His name. WOW what a great way to start when talking to the God of all breath and eternity. We can all take a lesson from the choir master of this Psalm. God is worthy of praise and all too often I go to Him with laments or just in cries of desperation.

The Psalm continues to explain that the reason He is worthy of praise is because he will be a light to all the nations. In verse 5 it says ” He is awesome in his deeds towards the children of man.” What deeds is he referring to??? The way God lead the people through the Red Sea. This deed was later clarified in 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, Paul said, “All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses” Paul is making sense of exactly what God does through his son Jesus. We are now baptized not into Moses, the prophet, but by the better Prophet, Priest and King Jesus Christ.  “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27)  This is the deeds of the Father, that He sent his son in the form of a man, dies, is buried and risen to new life. We too go through this death, burial, and resurrection and become a new creation through Jesus Christ. This, my friends, is most definitely worthy of confessing and praise!!

Right in line with the acronym for thanksgiving. However the thanksgiving here is so hard at times. We are told that there will be suffering in the Christian life but take heart God is there! Therefore when we suffer we don’t have to go through it alone. Verse 12 says ” we went through fire and threw water yet you have brought us to a place of abundance.” I can look back through seasons of suffering and the one thing always racing through my mind is how lonely it feels. That is a lie from Satan himself!!! We are told that we are never alone. Our Divine Father knows how we feel and carries us through the storm. waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2

Finally we get to our focus verse, verse 19, and it says God listens to our prayers. This the supplication, we ask for God to hear us and just as any good father does he listens. Thankfully Biblical listening denotes action. God when he listens works on behalf of his children. The last verse sums it all up…” Blessed be God because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.”

God is good all the time and works for us because He knows we don’t have the strength to do it ourselves. Rest in the knowledge that God is AWESOME, He loves you, walks through the trials with you, and most importantly He doesn’t tire in lavishing us with his divine love!